A Message in the Garden
by Rubi Dharuddha
Summary: A serial killer leaves strange calling cards the scene of their murders. No one seems to realize that these calling cards mean more than the eye can see Can Reid's newest love help them crack the case?
1. Moving Day

**A Message in the Garden**

**A/N: This is the sequel to **_**Save the Child**_**, if you haven't read that, you probably won't understand the relationship between my character and Reid. I suppose you could fake it if you wanted to ;0) Anyway, read on and enjoy.**

**P.S. I don't anything Criminal Minds related-- really, I don't earn anything but a warm fuzzy feeling that I've possibly made people happy with my writing. Please don't sue, that would really cramp my style and my checkbook!  
**

* * *

**Moving Day**

"Wumph." The box hit the floor, the sound echoing through the space it now occupied. Within the next few seconds several other boxes joined it. When the room finally grew silent, the group stood back and admired their work. Several piles of boxes were scattered around the place marked with a variety of names scrawled on the side in permanent marker. Finally after a moment one of looking at their work approvingly, the group began to move for the door. A laughing voice rang out after them.

"What, you aren't going to help me install a pool?" Turning to face the owner, Derek Morgan's lips twitched into a smile.

"I don't know _how_ Reid puts up with you Grace, you're just never satisfied." He said as he looked on the woman he'd come to know over the last year. She and Reid were standing together, Reid with his arm around Grace's waist. Really he was just joking, Derek was glad to see the young genius happy for a change. After his kidnapping, Reid had faced a rollercoaster ride in keeping it together with both his physical and mental states. Derek had worried the young man wouldn't heal after such an ordeal. Grace's arrival however, had obviously changed that. The young woman leaning into Reid laughed.

"Oh, you know me, I get what I want!" At this the rest of the group joined in the fun. Those who had been able to get away from the office for an afternoon had gathered at Grace's newly purchased house and helped her unload the many boxes she and her son had brought with them from Philadelphia. Morgan, Garcia, J.J, and Prentiss now stood in her living room, finishing their duty to moving day. All of a sudden a boy-shaped blur shot passed them and tore into one of the boxes. Grace and Reid looked at one another questioningly as Grace's son made a mess of the pile. For a five year old, he had a surprisingly determined look on his face.

"Uh, Aydan… What are you doing?" Grace asked her son. The little boy stopped only for a moment to give his mother a somewhat perplexed look.

"I can't find Scruffy." He said in a horrified whisper. Scruffy was Aydan's bear and confidant. It appeared the stuffed animal hadn't made an appearance as of yet, which of course had left the little boy worried they had left him someplace. Grace heaved a sigh as the little boy ripped through another box, this one marked kitchen, attempting to shift protective newspaper and packing peanuts out of his way. She pulled herself away from Reid and went to the little boy, taking his hand and leading him towards the stairs.

"C'mon sweetie, you won't find him in there—unless he's turned into a fork." As they headed for the stairs, Grace turned and faced the group.

"I owe you all food," she said as the little boy pulled her up the stairs. "Give me a minute to find our missing family member and we'll head out for pizza." The group watched as she followed her son up the stairs. When she disappeared around the corner, Garcia, J.J. and Prentiss made a break for the car.

"We'll go wait in the car." Garcia said as they sidled out the door. Derek on the other hand waited with Reid. The two men stood in silence for a moment until Derek looked at Reid.

"Glad she's here, man?" Reid turned to Morgan and smiled.

"I don't know if I could be happier—actually." He replied, as the grin on Morgan's face got wider. Morgan slapped the genius' back nearly knocking the rail-thin man to the floor.

"That's good man, that's good!" he said enthusiastically. Reid reciprocated the smile and returned his gaze to the stairs.

"So things are workin' out, that's fantastic." Morgan continued, catching the attention of the young man again.

"What do you mean working out?" Reid asked, confused. Morgan laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I was just thinkin'…" he said with a dramatic pause, "you've got it bad." Reid nearly choked as Morgan gave a loud laugh. Reid tried rearrange his face into one of composure, but failed, getting another laugh out of Morgan.

"Morgan, I will never understand you or your incessant need to embarrass me." The younger man said jokingly, though part of him wasn't sure _Morgan_ was joking. The handsome man, also known as a regular womanizer eyed Reid, his smile never fading.

"It's just too easy, it's obvious you dig this woman and that's cool man, more than cool. I was just wondering if maybe you thought she was, you know…" Morgan said, lifting an eyebrow questioningly. Reid wasn't following the other agent's meaning and gave him a look that said so.

"Do I know what?" he asked as Morgan rolled his eyes at the other man's naivety, how could someone so brilliant be so slow about some things?

"You know what I mean man, don't be stupid with me." Reid shook his head again, his geek length hair flopping into his eyes. He pushed it back with a thin hand, just in time to see Morgan's annoyance. Finally the older man just gave it up and leaned in until he was inches from Reid's ear.

"If she's _the one_?" Reid could feel his face imploding from within, the blush creeping across his cheeks as he realized what Morgan was implying. _Could_ Grace be the woman he was looking for? Considering she was the longest relationship he'd ever had, and that she _had_ moved to Quantico from her hometown to be closer to him. Something they had discussed in great length before her final (and very accelerated due to her IQ) year at college was up. Even though they had never broached the subject of marriage, they had talked about what kind of life they would lead, relationship wise, now that she was here. Reid had never had a problem with leaving at the drop of a hat or working late hours because he had been single, he'd never had had anyone waiting for him or looking to spend time with him. It hadn't even been a concern when the two were dating previous to Grace's move, since she had school and lived hours away.

Now that she was in Quantico, they had to be very sure they were up to the task of balancing work and a relationship. Something even the ever socially awkward Reid was up to doing. Grace had also felt this way, only concerned that her son would be upset by such a move. Which the little boy had assured her, several times before leaving their small apartment in Philadelphia, was not a problem. He loved his mother's boyfriend, thinking it the coolest thing in the world that Reid was an FBI agent. Although, he had been sad his grandparents weren't making the journey with them. It was an issue easily overcome though with promises of visits and holidays spent with family.

However, now that she was here and Morgan proved to be speculating about Reid's future a little _too _closely, Reid wasn't entirely sure what to think. He wasn't able to reply before Grace and Aydan made their way down the stairs, the boy's fuzzy cohort in hand. She shook her head dramatically.

"He was hiding under the bed, I guess the little stinker was trying to get out of helping unpack." Reid gave a somewhat weak smile that Grace didn't seem to read as anything suspicious. She walked passed the two, grabbing her purse and searching for her brand new keys.

"Better get to the car boys, I'm starving so once I'm out there, I ain't waitin'!" she said laughing as she finally found her keys. Morgan looked at the little boy and gave him an evil grin.

"Last one to the car's a rotten egg!" he challenged, Aydan taking it on in an instant. Grace laughed as her boy ran out to the car, racing Morgan. She smiled at Reid and held out her hand.

"Ready?" she asked, without hesitation, Reid took her hand.

"Ready." And the two walked out to the car.

* * *

"Oh no, no girl! Why would go and say a thing like that?" Morgan was laughing with Garcia over some morsel of gossip the queen of all things electronic, had deemed necessary to share with the group. Aydan was sitting next to Reid who was cutting his pizza up into bite-sized pieces for the boy. Normally kids frightened the boy-genius, but he had grown to care for Aydan and couldn't help but feel paternal for the little boy. Grace sat next to him eating a slice of pizza and laughing at the latest joke. 

It seemed the night was young for everyone, good company, good conversation, and good pizza. Garcia and Morgan leaned towards one another, watching Reid and Grace from across the table. They started to snicker when Grace took up a napkin and dabbed off a piece of cheese stuck to Reid's chin.

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick." Garcia said laughing into her hand. Morgan shook his head, giving a mocking sigh.

"Come _on_, my cynical goddess of technology—don't you know young love when you see it?" Garcia gave a snort.

"I see something that's making me wish I hadn't eaten that last piece of pizza." The two chuckled together, knowing that they didn't mean any of it. Reid was one of their closest friends and colleagues, he was happier now and that was always good, for all of them. However, this little break from reality was cut short as everyone's but Grace's cell phone rang. Quickly all of the BAU members flipped their phones open to see they were being called back to the office. Soon it became a mad rush for the check and transportation to the BAU.

Reid walked Grace and Aydan back to their car and helped her get him into his seat. She turned to him after Aydan was strapped in, shutting the door with a resounding click. Reid gave her a small smile and attempting to explain.

"This is only the beginning of—" Grace lifted her fingers to his lips effectively silencing him.

"It'll take some getting used to your schedule-- But I'm not going to hold it against you," she smiled as he leaned forward for a goodbye kiss, "yet." She finished before he could touch her, making him give a groan of exasperation. She closed the distance and gave him a warm kiss, pulling back and winking.

"Just be safe." She said as she opened the door to her car, preparing to leave. Reid gave her a crooked grin and made for the car J.J. and Prentiss had pulled up in.

"I'll do my best." He said over his shoulder as he climbed in. As he sat down he realized the smile hadn't left his face, something that hadn't happened in a very long time. J.J. and Prentiss noticed this too, only they kept their comments to themselves as they headed for the BAU. He would have to have enough smiles to keep him going for a while. According to their phone messages, this case was going to keep them busy.

Very busy. He just didn't realize it included _her_.


	2. A Story Doth the Petal Tell

**A Story Doth the Petal Tell**

The team sat in the conference room staring at the images projected on the screen. It appeared they were facing something a bit different than their previous cases. Not that any two cases were exactly the same, this one just seemed to have a strange twist. The woman they were looking at now had no visible signs of struggle or injury. In fact, if they hadn't known better, she looked as though she were sleeping. The only thing that may have given it away was the fact her hands were folded primly across her abdomen and a sprig of flowers were trapped in between her fingers. A close-up showed a crimson flower with triangular petals and a shocking burst of gold in the center.

"Nelly Cantrell, forty years old." J.J. announced as she flipped through the pictures onscreen. A routine well practiced by now. She faced the table again and looked at her colleagues.

"Born, raised, and murdered in Baraboo, Wisconsin. A little town that hasn't seen much violent crime." She added, a small town seeming to mean a more personal case.

"This says cause of death has been filed as Hemlock poisoning." Gideon read out loud from his file, he looked up, peering over his glasses at the blonde woman.

"Is this correct?" he asked, unsure if he should actually believe what he was reading. J.J. nodded without hesitation, she hadn't believed it either and had doubled checked with coroner herself to be sure he had done a full chemical analysis. The man had assured he had done everything by the book. Hemlock was the killer. Morgan shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

"That's a little old school if you ask me." He said, not sure if dying by a plant chemical was that pleasant a way to go. Reid gave a hum of agreement still engrossed in the file.

"Very old school actually—" he said, finally looking up from the paper before him, "Hemlock poisoning was the execution of choice in ancient Greece. It's also the most theorized poison used in the death of Socrates. The plant itself produces an Alkaloid known as Coniine, deadly when ingested." The others took this into consideration as they tried to form the foundation for a strong profile.

"So—what, we're looking for someone with a green-thumb?" Prentiss asked finally. The thought was a strong one; though Hotch made his own point.

"In a town this small? How many people could you speculate, garden in their spare time?" They were all quiet for a moment, regarding this new case somewhat unsurely. Flowers and poison by plants was one thing, figuring out who did it was another. Finally Gideon pushed his chair back and stood, the others following suit. Hotch giving them their orders.

"We leave first thing in the morning, get home, get packed and get some rest." The team nodded and started to file out. Reid gathered up his paper pile and turned to leave the room when he realized Grace was standing in the doorway.

"Grace! What—What are you doing here? Is everything all right?" Grace gave him a grin, walking into the conference room.

"I couldn't help but overhear you were leaving." Reid's eyes darted from the files in front of him to her and back again. He had no idea how he was going to tell her he was flying to another state in less than sixteen hours.

"Uh, yeah actually. We have a case in Wisconsin, I have to go home and get my stuff together." This made Grace smile somewhat wider, which confused Reid. He just assumed she would be upset about him having to leave.

"Well, that's great hun—but don't you think you'll need these first?' she stuck her hand out in front of her and jingled a ring of keys that was quite familiar to the genius. He gave a sheepish smile and walked over to take them from her.

"I didn't realize I had left them." Grace gave a shrug.

"You left them on one of my many, never going to be unpacked, boxes. I've heard, somewhere, those little beauties are good for opening things, you know, like _doors_." The two laughed at Reid's absentmindedness until Aydan popped around the corner, eyes wide at the sights he was seeing. A real FBI office was apparently, _the _coolest thing ever. He tugged on his mother's shirt hem, grabbing her attention.

"What is it honey?" she said, his wide-eyed stare too adorable to pass up.

"This is where they get the bad guys Mommy." He said excitedly. He was entirely too involved to care whether she replied or not. She shook her head as he hurried to the railing they were standing next to and peered around the office, drinking in the experience.

"We just wanted to drop those off, you better get home before it gets too late." She turned to go when the close-up of a flower caught her eye.

"Huh," she started, "looks like someone was naughty." Reid followed her gaze to the photo. He looked back at her, eyebrow raised.

"Why would you say that?" Grace gave a slight shrug.

"That's Hellebore, often associated with scandal." Reid looked back at the picture and then to Grace once more. He raised a hand as things started to fall into place.

"Wait here, I need to get the team together." He ran off down the hall, hoping no one had left yet. It seemed he was onto something.

* * *

With the team gathered together again and with them staring at her, Grace felt a bit like she should belong in a circus. Aydan had immediately run into the room and into one of the many rolling chairs, he was soon experimenting with it, only frazzling his mother's nerves a bit more. On the other hand, she couldn't figure out why Reid had left her standing there alone, but she assumed he had a good reason. Finally he pointed at the picture as he spoke.

"Grace mentioned something that got me to thinking. These flowers aren't just a last minute thought from a gardener. They're messages." The group turned to look at Grace who suddenly felt what being put on the spot was.

"You know something about flowers?" Gideon asked. Grace nodded, still wondering what she was supposed to be saying.

"Considering my business _is_ flowers and I have a fascination with them, I decided I needed to learn all I could about the subject." Hotch crossed his arms across his chest, unsure of what Reid was getting at.

"So you're saying this flower means something other than it being a flower?" Grace nodded again.

"I can't be positive about your case, but yes, from what I know, Hellebore is used to imply or convey scandal." She replied, while Morgan, always the skeptic questioned further.

"How do you know this?" Grace began to answer while she stuck a hand out to stop Aydan from spinning in the chair he was sitting in. He looked up and gave a silly smile as his mother explanation of her sudden expertise.

"What I've come across in my research is that in the Victorian era, flowers were used as a way to communicate in a very proper and rigid setting. In that age, one's social reputation was constantly in view of one's peers. _So_ a way to counter any negative talk was to use flowers as messages." She said confidently, it had actually been very interesting learning about all the different species of flowers and which ones were meant for what. As more eyebrows rose, Prentiss asked,

"So, when those Valentine's Day commercials advertise roses as a way to say 'I Love You', they aren't kidding?" Grace gave a conceding nod.

"Roses are somewhat of a cliché anymore, but yes, in most cases they were meant to say I love you—flowers could also be used as a woman's reply to propositions from suitors. For instance, a carnation with stripes is known as a refusal or rejection to something." Morgan gave snort.

"Nice, you ask a girl to marry you, she sends you flowers that say no." He said. Grace gave him a crooked smile.

"Well it's better than a poke in the eye—I suppose getting flowers rather than public humiliation is better than nothing." The men agreed after a moment. The team pondered over the flower involved in their current case. What did scandal have to do with anything?

"We should see if the victim was involved in anything that could be considered scandalous." Morgan said, breaking the silence, the others agreed.

"We might be dealing with someone who has a vendetta against those they find unworthy, or it might be something we haven't thought of yet." Gideon said, somewhere, far away in his thoughts. It was this moment that J.J.'s phone rang. She took it into the hall to answer it only to return moments later.

"They've just found another one." She announced. Grace's eyes snapped to Reid, her question dying on her lips as she realized that "they've found another one" meant yet another person had been found dead. She never would understand why people did what they did. It was a good thing Reid _did_. Gideon didn't sit idly, he got to his feet the moment her heard J.J.'s announcement and was heading out the door. He stopped only to look at Grace for a moment.

"We'll need you as a consultant—think you can be ready in an hour?" he didn't even give her time to answer before he left the room. She had to choke back a retort when Hotch came over with his hands up in surrender. He could tell she was irked by Gideon's lack of finesse.

"Agent Hotchner," Grace started, "I can't go with you. For one, I just _got_ here, two, I'm trying to finalize a loan for my shop and three I can't just pack up and leave my son here." Hotch nodded in understanding. Gideon hadn't had to deal with young children in a long while. He was so focused in his work it appeared he forgot all the common sensibilities of parenthood. Of course manners escaped him as well. Hotch rested a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"I understand Grace, I had to deal with those sorts of things my first day here as well. I assure you," he said with his usual stoic voice, "we can't make you come with us—however, your knowledge with these flowers is invaluable at the moment. Can we use that to our advantage over the phone, perhaps?" he finished, ever the diplomat. Grace nodded.

"I'd be happy to help any way I can Agent Hotchner. You'll just have to send me photos to cross-reference with my notes." She said, while Reid looked at her somewhat incredulous.

"You have _notes_?" he asked, while Grace rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Spencer, I have notes." Before the two could poke fun at one another Hotch gave her a final nod.

"We'll get you those photos as soon as we can. Your help is greatly appreciated." Grace gave a nod, knowing a dismissal when she saw one. Carefully she hauled the now exhausted Aydan onto her hip, heading out into the bullpen area and to her car. Reid followed her out into the street after grabbing his bag. He'd have to hurry home to get fresh clothes anyway. The elevator ride down to the ground floor was silent, however, as they headed to her car, Reid spoke up.

"Grace, I-I'm sorry if I put you in a spot back there. When I figure things out, I get a little excited." Grace smiled at him as they closed the distance to her vehicle.

"It's ok Spencer. I'm glad to help, just tell me before you bring the "brute squad" in." She replied, laughing. She sighed, fumbling for her keys as Aydan fell asleep against her shoulder. Reid was quick to jump to her aid, finding the keys and opening the doors for her. Grace strapped the sleepy little boy in and tuned to Reid once more.

"This is the second time we've said goodbye today." She pointed out as she prepared to leave. Reid nodded, his eyes never leaving her face.

"We'll be in touch though." Grace nodded.

"Yeah, there's that—just promise me you'll come back in one piece?" Reid tilted his head.

"I can't promise—" at her look of disappointment he tried again, "I can't promise anything, but I can do my best." Grace smiled and leaned forward, kissing him softly.

"That's better then nothing." She said as she got in her car. As she pulled out of the parking lot, Reid gave s big sigh. So far so good with what required of him.

Hopefully, he thought to himself, the team could figure out what happened and catch this killer so they could come home. Something he hadn't thought he would ever hope for. He also hoped Grace would be able to help them from long distance.

He hoped that the flowers would keep telling a story.


	3. Long Distance

**Long Distance**

**A/N: Thanks to Ann Parker and mabelreid for your reviews. It's lovely to hear from you two. I'm hoping I can continue to keep you interested. My updates may turn sporadic seeing as I'm on the hunt for a place of employment and it may take up a bit more of my summer then I'd like to admit—curses to needing money. In any event, enjoy them as they come and know my deepest thanks comes when I read your reviews!**

* * *

The plane ride to Wisconsin was a long one, despite their having their own jet. In any event, Reid was still exhausted after sleeping most of the way there. It seemed that the sleeping sitting up and with one's neck at an odd angle prevented a decent slumber. They had arrived at the crime scene less than an hour ago and were reviewing the area. This murder was similar enough, that one could assume the woman lying on the bed had been killed with the same substance the other woman had. Gideon and Hotch had gone to meet with the first victim's husband while the rest searched the most recent crime scene for clues. 

"Everything down to the flowers." Morgan muttered to himself, taking pictures for Garcia to send to Grace. Reid leaned over until he had a good view of the latest message. These flowers were very different than the last ones. The flowers gripped in the cold hands of the newest victims were white, tube-like with petals that pushed out and ended with frills. Within the blooms the petal was lined with small purple dots that were interrupted by a splash of orange on either side. Other than what he was seeing Reid had no idea what they were or what kind of message they were supposed to convey.

"Better get those pictures to Grace quickly." He said to Derek. The older agent nodded, sending the picture messages to Garcia. He called her and explained what they needed.

**Quantico, Virginia **

A matter of seconds later Grace woke to her phone's obnoxious ring, nearly falling off of the couch she had fallen asleep on. She shot a glare at the offending piece of technology, flipping the phone open.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice giving away more annoyance then she had intended. The voice on the other end wasn't particularly sympathetic.

"I'm sorry," Garcia said smoothly, "did I wake the princess from her slumber?" Grace had to shake her head, aware of Garcia's penchant for quick wit and sharp retorts.

"Why yes you did Penelope, speak quickly or meet your doom." There was a chuckle quickly covered by a cough on the other end of the line. Garcia replying.

"Oh _apologies_ exalted one—now, go to your computer and check your e-mail. Morgan and Reid sent pictures of the latest flower, message—thing." Grace gave a sigh and pushed herself off of the couch, heading for the laptop she had set up and plugged into the Internet when she got home.

"Good thing I set all of utilities up before I got here." She muttered to herself as she turned the computer on. A few minutes later she was on the phone and calling Reid.

**Baraboo, Wisconsin**

"Justine Cantrell, "the sheriff stated, "twenty-five found earlier this afternoon. Cause of death to be determined after autopsy." Morgan looked up from the day planner he was inspecting.

"Cantrell? Isn't that the name of your first victim?" the sheriff nodded.

"Both she and Nelly were married to two of the Cantrell boys—Justine was…" he trailed off, sentence left unfinished. Reid looked at him expectantly.

"She was what?" he asked. Finally the sheriff, looking sheepish at his own fumble, finished what he had begun.

"I don't like spreading rumors Agent Reid—But Justine was known for having what we call a, roving eye." Reid looked at Morgan for help, a bit clueless. Morgan rolled his eyes and looked to the sheriff who was having a hard time believing Reid didn't know what he meant.

"Mr. Romance over here doesn't have that problem with _his_ woman, you'll have to explain what that means." Reid glared at Morgan.

"Grace is **not** _my_ woman—she's my…" Morgan lifted and eyebrow and Reid sighed.

"…Woman." The sheriff stared silently at the two until they were done. Reid was brought back to reality.

"Right, not the appropriate time… Please explain." The sheriff continued giving them both a look, shifting on his heel and gesturing to the young woman on the bed.

"Justine was married to Marty Cantrell who has to be over twenty years her senior. No one was quite sure why she married him."

"Maybe because that's what people do when they're in love, something you might not understand, having been married three times." The group turned to see a man with salt and pepper hair at the doorway. Morgan immediately moved forward.

"Sir, you can't be here, this is a crime scene." The man wasn't intimidated and continued forward.

"Like hell I can't be here, this is my house and the woman lying on that bed is my wife. What happened?" His voice had a false sense of calm to it, but he was obviously not calm at all. His hands were clenching and unclenching while his eyes blinked furiously against tears. It was a wonder he wasn't screaming. Morgan however had to keep him from contaminating the scene. He was able to get the man out of the room to talk to him about what had happened while Reid continued on with the sheriff. He barely opened his mouth when his cell phone rang. Excusing himself he answered and found Grace on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Spencer, it's Grace. I had a chance to look at the photos and reference with my notes."

"What did you find?"

_"The flower is called a Catalpa."_

"Does it have a message?"

_"Well, according to my research it means—Beware the coquette."_

"Beware the coquette? As in, beware the flirt?"

_"Apparently. Does that not make sense?"_

"Ye- yes, it makes perfect sense."

_"Well, if it helps, that's what I've got for you—Not that it doesn't feel like I'm reading tarot cards."_

"Well if you could divine the future, we wouldn't be here."

_"Good point, call me if you need anything more."_

"Right, I lo--" Reid stopped before he could continue on. Did he really want to say that _now_, over the phone? Despite his social awkwardness, he knew somethings were better said in person, when one was sure that's what they were wanting to say. Of course Grace wasn't aware of this internal struggle and was passed disappointed when he didn't finish his sentence.

_"What?"_

"I--ll let you know if something comes up."

_"Oh. Right, yeah, call me."__  
_

After hearing her hang up, Reid shut his phone, kicking himself for being stupid, while he waited for Morgan to come back into the room. After a few moments the other agent returned alone. He was shaking his head as he entered the room, followed by two employees of the ME's office.

"Man, I will _never_ get used to that." He looked at Reid and gave a questioning look.

"Find anything out?" he asked. Reid nodded as the two followed the ME's men and the gurney out of the room.

"Grace says the flower is known as a Catalpa and that it's used to signify someone being wary of someone who flirts." Morgan gave a whistle.

"So this means someone's pretty serious about what goes on around here." He said. Reid nodded his head in agreement as they got into the car.

"We'll have to find out what it was Gideon and Hotch got from their interview." He said as the car pulled away from the curb. Morgan looked at the road ahead of them grimly.

"I'm almost afraid to assume it's something pretty scandalous."


	4. Family

**Family**

**A/N: A short but informative chapter—I hope. And, as I warned before, I _have_ procured employment, so my schedule will become quite different. I'll try and update as often as I can. It'll get done, I promise :0)**

* * *

Gideon was sitting at a table in his hotel room when the other agents arrived. He let them in and waited patiently for them to find places to sit.

"Gideon," Hotch said as they all shifted around the room, "the team should get some rest, we can discuss the case in the morning." Gideon shook his head.

"No Hotch, two murders in less than twenty-four hours and we don't have a solid profile—We need to get discuss it _now_." The younger man conceded sliding into a chair beside the room's window. Gideon went to a table strewn with notes and pictures of the victims and their messages. He handed out copies of the latest findings to the team, starting to speak.

"According to Nelly Cantrell's husband, Richard, his wife didn't have any enemies—at least none that he was aware of." The agents looked at their papers as Hotch continued.

"However, Mr. Cantrell did make us aware that his wife had a serious gambling problem. A problem that had become quite the local," he looked at them pointedly as he finished, "scandal." The team members looked up from their notes, Morgan speaking.

"Was she getting any help?" Gideon gave a shrug from his position at the table, arms crossed in the usual Gideon fashion.

"Apparently not soon enough, she was scheduled to speak with a counselor next week." Gideon shifted his feet ahead of him as he continued.

"In the meantime, Nelly had effectively gambled away she and her husband's savings. _Including_ their son's college fund." He finished, his gaze showing no emotion about the woman's personal issues. Reid, who had been silent until this point, ran a hand through his hair.

"So-so we're going on the assumption that Grace's flower messages are correct—that they really are implying whatever wrong the victim committed?" he asked, the other agents looking at one another. It appeared they were inclined to agree Grace's translations had been spot on, at least for Nelly.

"What about the latest victim, what about her?" Reid spoke up again, relaying the information he and Morgan had found out from the husband.

"Justine Cantrell wasn't known to have any enemies, and her husband wasn't aware of anything out of the ordinary. The sheriff though, let us know it was a well known fact that Justine had a—wh-what did he call it Morgan?" Morgan gave a grim look.

"He said she had a roving eye, that some of the folks around here thought she was a flirt-- some suspected her of having an affair." He said, while Prentiss shifted and looked at Reid.

"What about the flowers?" Reid nodded and answered.

"It confirms the theory—according to her research, Grace says it means 'beware the coquette'.

"I think it would be wise to say whoever is doing this has pretty intimate information about the family." Prentiss said. Gideon's raised an eyebrow.

"In a town this small, it would be hard to separate out those who _don't_ have intimate knowledge of the Cantrell's." He said with a tired voice. It seemed Reid wasn't the only one who hadn't gotten any sleep on the plane.

"I'd say the wives of the other two men should have protection, it's pretty obvious the women of the family are in danger." J.J. said quietly from her spot on the floor. The others nodded, Hotch giving his seal of approval nod. As the blonde moved away to make a call to the police, Hotch spoke.

In the meantime, we should start looking into immediate family. What do we know about them?" this question was answered by Prentiss who was reading off of J.J's notes.

"Well, the family consists of four brothers, Richard, Marty, Steven, and Joseph. Their parents died when they were younger, leaving them to their mother's sister. Eva Bridger, she raised them on her own as though they were her children." Morgan shook his head.

"Pretty dedicated, raising four children." He said. J.J. nodded in agreement.

"She and her husband were like their parents and were a family until her husband passed away two years ago. Since then Eva's been on her own."

"All right, what about the wives?" Gideon asked. Prentiss flipped through the notebook, stopping at a certain point.

"Nelly was Richard's wife, Justine to Marty, Marilyn to Steven and Constance to Joseph. All of them appear to have stable marriages, no reason to think otherwise." The team was quiet for a moment, absorbing this until Hotch looked at his watch.

"Look, I believe we've gone over what we can tonight. Let's go to our rooms and get some sleep. Our profile will be ready in the morning." The agents and even Gideon heartily agreed. Sleep was scarce for them and the chance to get any at all was tempting enough as it was. Which why it wasn't a difficult decision for them to file out of the room and head to their own beds for the evening.

Just as Hotch had predicted, life and work was waiting for them. J.J.'s phone rang bright and early the next morning.

It appeared more flowers had been delivered to the Cantrell family.


	5. If Flowers Were Mirrors

**If Flowers Were Mirrors**

**A/N: I apologize in advance for all of the line breaks, but I wanted to separate all of these sections. Hopefully it means easier reading for you guys. Enjoy! **

"Damn!" Morgan exclaimed after they entered the house of the latest victim. He and the others watched as Gideon went on a near rampage, questioning the police officers about how the murderer was able to enter the house without their noticing. The officers on the other hand, insisted that no one had entered or left the house without them seeing. Gideon wasn't about to agree with them.

"It's pretty obvious that someone got in, officers. There's a woman in there, _dead_." He said his hands wringing together as an emotion akin to rage seemed to radiate from him. Gideon didn't appreciate serial killers getting away with their craft right under his nose. Not that any of the others did either, but Gideon always seemed to take it the hardest when someone died on his watch. Either way, the officers standing in front of him weren't going to forget this event anytime soon. The team was quick to head to the crime scene when their most senior member gave them a look from where he stood. Quickly they headed to the second floor and entered the crime scene, well aware of what to expect.

Just as the others had been, the woman was laid out on her bed, hands folded over her stomach. Her fingers clenched around a yellow flower with an inner tube that was shaped like a trumpet with frilled edges, and outer petals in a ring around it. The entire flower was gold. Prentiss leaned over it while Reid prepared to take a picture for Grace.

"It looks like an ordinary Daffodil." She commented as she looked for anything out of the ordinary. Morgan nodded in agreement as he too took a look.

"Yeah, it looks like the ones my mom grows in her front yard—hardly looks like anything exotic, not like the other two." He said. Reid on the other hand gave a sigh that neither confirmed agreement or otherwise.

"Well, it could be a Daffodil, but it doesn't really matter if it's exotic or not does it?" he said to the others as he snapped pictures to send to their unofficial agent.

"It's what it means that matters." He finished as he sent the final pictures off.

Unfortunately, they would have to wait for a moment, seeing as Grace was in the middle of a meeting with the bank.

* * *

Grace was sitting in the office of a loan officer, palms sweating as she waited for the final verdict on whether or not she would get the funds to open her own business. Despite her inexperience as a business owner, the woman sitting ahead of her had made a point of praising her work with established shops in Philadelphia. This only slightly reassured Grace as the woman flipped through the rest of the information she had provided. She risked a peek outside the office only a few times to make sure Aydan was where she had left him.

After all he had been through a year ago, Aydan had moved on in his young life, remarkably well. His moods hadn't changed any and aside from a few a nightmares, he had hadn't seemed to have changed from the happy little boy Grace had raised. He wasn't plagued by anything detrimental, though she noticed he had become more cautious of being unattended. Staying near her while they were out in public, but never withdrawing. For this, Grace was relieved and proud. At the moment he was drawing on the paper she had brought to keep him occupied. Having just moved to the Quantico area, she hadn't yet met anyone she was willing to entrust with the care of her son. Other than of course those of the BAU team, who were currently indisposed. She gave a small smile and looked back at the loan officer who was busily pulling papers together for her to sign. She began this process and was neck deep in paper, oblivious to what was happening just outside the door.

Aydan on the other hand was quite aware. The little boy was happily drawing on his paper, his feet swinging several inches above the ground, when his mother's purse began to ring. The little boy looked at the bag and then towards where his mother was sitting. Finally he gave a slight shrug and searched the purse for his mother's phone. He looked at the screen as he'd seen his mother do a thousand times before, he sounded out the letters (having learned to read earlier that year) and realized it was Reid calling. He answered the phone smiling.

"Hello?"

"_Hello?"_ A surprised voice replied.

"Hi, Spencer."

_"Aydan, what are you doing answering your mom's phone?"_

"Why are you calling it?" A silence at the other end of the line proved a point well

made. Reid couldn't seem to argue though he remembered what he had called for in the first place before he attempted it. Aydan _was_ a five year old, it would just make Reid more of a nerd.

_"Could you put your mom on the phone for me?"_ Aydan looked up at the window to see his mother working hard at a pile of papers in front of her.

"Umm… No." There was another silence. Reid's reply was questioning and gave away how painful it was that he had to say it.

_"Please?"_

"I can't because mommy's trying to get someone to give her money."

_"Giving her money… Oh! The loan, right… Well—I guess that means I have to leave a message with you, can you do that for me?"_ Aydan wiggled on the bench he was sitting on, thoroughly excited at this new task. It was this movement that caused Grace to look up from the mountain of papers she was signing. She watched her son as he continued talking on her cell phone. _Who_ was he talking to? What was he even doing

"Yah!"

_"Ok, tell your mom that we're sending her more flower pictures and she needs to let us know what they are and what they mean as soon as possible, did you get that?"_

"Yup, um, Spencer?"

_"Yes, Aydan?"_

"When are you coming home?"

_"As soon as I can, Aydan. As soon as I can."_

"Good, bye Spencer."

_"Bye Aydan."_

Aydan shut the phone and put it back in his mother's purse, promptly starting his drawing once more. Fifteen minutes later his mother left the office she had been shut up in. She thanked the woman profusely, shaking her hand as she left. When she finally reached her son, she was exhausted. Aydan however, was rearing to go.

"Hi, mommy." Grace smiled and took his hand as they left the bank.

"Hi, baby." The little boy looked up at his mother and tugged on her hand a little.

"Did they give us money?" Grace laughed as they pushed the doors open to the bank and headed for the car. She looked down at him and nodded.

"Yep. They gave us money." Aydan smiled and did what could only be compared to the Peanut's Happy Dance. Grace couldn't help but laugh and was more than happy to join in when he gave her a big smile. After a few seconds of dancing, the two headed home. Aydan sharing the message he had gotten from Reid.

* * *

"Mommy, what does Asparagus have to do with flowers?" Grace looked up from the photos she was looking at and gave Aydan a puzzled look.

"What, sweet pea?" she asked. Aydan pointed at the words beneath the picture he was looking at. They had Grace's notes and books spread out across the table and were looking at them to match them to the photos Reid had sent them

"As-per-uh-gus." He sounded out, trying to make sense of vegetable with a flower. Grace looked to where he was pointing. She smiled at his innocent mistake.

"Oh, honey, that's Aspar_gales_. It's the—category name of the flower we're looking for. And, I _think_ you've found it." A moment later she called Reid, giving Aydan a big hug and a kiss on the forehead as the phone rang. When he answered, it wasn't a surprise to find out what the flower was implying.

* * *

Reid's phone clicked shut as he turned to face the group waiting in the office. They had been waiting impatiently for Grace to call back, but it had taken much longer then expected. Gideon had been pacing for the last thirty minutes and Reid had been afraid he would explode. The others were staring at their notes, tossing ideas back and forth. They had searched the crime scene and still come up clueless. At the sound of Reid's phone shutting, everyone in the room turned their eyes on him. After a moment of audience shock, Reid cleared his throat and gave a brief overview of what Grace had said.

"It _is_ a Daffodil, also known as a Narcisscus Flower. Not surprisingly, it means egotism." Morgan's head fell back and he let out a loud groan.

"_Fan_tastic." The rest of the group agreed.

Square one was becoming a rather familiar place.


	6. The Last One

**The Last One**

**A/N: I apologize for my lack of updates, I've been getting a ton of hours at work and by the time I get home these days, I'm way too pooped to write. AND, I'm extremely angry with Mandy Patinkin for being such a greedy snot and quitting an awesome show and character because he's not "being paid enough". In case you didn't know, Mandy will not be returning to Criminal Minds next season-- his exit will be explained and his character will be replaced with someone new. Puh-lease. Grr to you Mandy, you're a fantastic actor, but snotty business man.**

* * *

The team had exhausted themselves looking for some clue of who was poisoning the women of the Cantrell family. So far, only one wife of the four men was still alive and at the moment, she was being guarded. Now the team was sitting in the living room of the four men's aunt. The remaining wife sat between her husband and the elderly woman the men had depended on during their young lives. She didn't look particularly worried, even though her counterparts in the martial world had since moved onto (one could only hope) a better place. Gideon watched this wife (her name was Constance) carefully, at the moment, despite having all the clues they needed, it still wasn't clear who was doing this or why. He took note of her seemingly calm demeanor as she sat before them.

"Who would do this to our wives?" Said Richard Cantrell, the husband of the first victim. He, as well as his brother's was red-eyed and exhausted from waiting for answers. Hotch leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees, hands clasped.

"We aren't sure as of yet. We have physical evidence but our profile is incomplete at the moment." He said, while the others became restless.

"What in God's name is _taking_ so long to come up with this—this profile of yours?" exclaimed Steven Cantrell, the husband of the latest deceased woman. As Hotch attempted to calm the man, Reid went over what he and Morgan had learned just before meeting with the remaining family. Apparently his wife Marilyn (who had been presented with a daffodil implying egotism) had been fond of herself. She had looked into plastic surgery several times, hoping to augment what she thought she already possessed. She also felt herself talented in many things, though in a town this small, the population had failed to agree. According to some, she was quite the snob, despite her husband being oblivious to such a flaw.

Reid's attention was drawn back to the conversation before him as he noticed the elderly Eva stand and slowly make her way to the kitchen. He gave a look to Hotch who gave a slight nod. Quietly he followed her into the kitchen where he watched her begin to pull cups out of the cabinets. She stopped after a moment and then turned to him.

"Don't just stand there young man, help me with these dishes." She said with a voice that was stronger than her appearance revealed. Before he even realized what he was doing, he moved to help her. For some reason her voice reminded him of his mother, before she was overcome by her illness. It was the kind of sound that made him jump into action and look for something to do. She set them down on the countertop and followed the edge with her hands to get to the tea she had on the stove. He set the cups on their saucers as the elderly woman brought the teakettle back to where he stood. She looked at him as she poured the amber liquid into the first cup; steam lifted up and swirled around her hand.

"A good cup of tea can calm even the most worried." She said knowingly, giving him a sweet old lady smile. She continued on with the rest of the teacups as Reid held them for her, helping keep them steady against her shaking hands. He took a deep breath and then asked what his job required of him.

"Have you had any reason to believe your family was in danger? Anyone getting too personal or causing you to worry?" The elderly woman shook her head as she finished pouring the tea.

"No—" she said slowly as she watched him set the cups on a tray she had set down for him. She continued as he finished up.

"But, I don't mean to disrespect those who have passed, but those three were always drawing attention to themselves. I'm sure it didn't take much to see what was going on in this family." Reid was taken somewhat aback by the bluntness of her tone, and was even more taken aback by her sudden smile and her arthritic hands grasping the tray as she headed out the kitchen door. Reid shook his head as he followed her out, but was stopped by a slight musty smell coming from the kitchen sink. He stopped and backtracked; he couldn't find the source of the odor. The sink held only one travel mug, turned upside down, despite the sink being dry. He shook his head; obviously he wasn't going to find anything out right now. Apparently he was going to have to go enjoy some tea, though he wasn't sure he even _liked_ tea.

* * *

_"So you still have no idea who might be doing this?"_ Grace asked as she talked to Reid later that evening. He was sitting on the end of his hotel room's bed, rubbing his forehead with long fingers. He was thoroughly frustrated at how slow this case was going.

"No idea. We've figured out what the flowers mean, thanks to you, we know what the victims have been killed with and what we believe to be the reasons they've been murdered, but even in a town this small—absolutely nothing." He sighed and lay back on the bed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Grace was sympathetic, completely understanding of the frustration, having gone through this before with her own son.

_"What about the wife that's still alive, you said Gideon made a note of her being unusually calm—did you investigate that?"_ she asked, hoping to be of some assistance to the team.

"We talked to her, as far as we can tell, she's completely unaware as to what's happening. She's concerned about her life and according to those who know her, she's a pillar of the community, not a bad word spoken about her." He replied, though Grace was far from believing that. She gave a disbelieving snort that put a grin on Reid's face.

_"Yeah, right. I used to live in a small town—someone __**always**__ had something nasty to say about the most squeaky clean choir boy."_ She said, making Reid's grim mood dissipate. She was right; it seemed too good to be true, that out of all of the Cantrell wives, this one was the least problematic. He sighed after a second and agreed.

"I know. I just wish I could find something, _anything._" He said, his voice heavy with his frustrations.

_"I wish I could help you Spencer, I wish I was there."_ Grace said sincerely. Reid smiled; he wished she were there too.

"I do too, maybe you'd see something I'm missing." Grace laughed, the sound making Reid realize how much he truly did miss her. He echoed her laughter and was quiet for a moment, before continuing.

"I miss you, Grace." He said quietly, he could almost see her smiling.

_"You aren't going all corny on me now, are you?"_ she asked with a fake seriousness. Reid was caught off guard and laughed, quite a bit louder then I he had expected. Quieting himself, he waited for someone to come tell him to keep it down.

"I would _never_ do such a thing." Grace gave an approving sound.

_"Good. I want that studious, mind picking, superman I fell for."_

"And a superman you'll get." After their laughter died away, Grace gave a low sigh.

_"I miss you too, Spencer. I can't wait for you to come home."_ Reid gave a slight smile.

"Just promise me, you won't make tea."

_"I don't make guarantees my dear—I'm intrigued though, why no tea?"_ Reid took in a deep breath as the memory of the earlier meeting had ended with him nearly being force-fed more tea then he had been interested in ingesting. The elderly woman had insisted they all enjoy more then one cup and _he_ had decided he was not a tea drinking man.

"The woman who raised the four Cantrell men, she nearly forced me to drink my own body weight in tea. Though, after smelling her kitchen, I can't believe I was able to finish one cup."

_"Why? Does she not clean?"_ Grace asked, Reid shrugged even though he knew she couldn't see him.

"No, that's what surprised me. I didn't smell anything until I passed the sink, but it smelled strange—musty, almost like a mouse had set up shop. It was just enough to make a stomach turn." Grace was quiet, her silence worrying Reid. His eyes narrowed as he waited for her to say something.

"Grace, are you still there?" he asked, worried they had been disconnected. Finally, she answered, her voice somewhat breathless.

_"Did you say you smelled something musty?"_ she asked, while Reid felt his pulse speed up.

"Yes, why?"

_"And, all of your victims were poisoned with hemlock?"_ Now Reid was more than awake and listening.

"Grace, what are you getting at?"

_"Spencer, hemlock produces a mouse-like or musty smell when it's crushed. It's one of the ways someone can tell if they're looking at a fennel or hemlock plant."_ Reid sat straight up as he heard this. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Grace, you're sure?"

_"I'm positive."_ Nearly jumping off the bed, Reid gave a quick goodbye.

"I—I have to go Grace, love you." He didn't hear her shocked reply as he hung up and shot out the door, heading for Gideon's hotel room.

_"I love you too."_


	7. The Elderly Are Suspect

**The Elderly Are Suspect**

**A/N: I apologize for my long absence and unforgivably lengthy gaps in updates, **_**however**_**, I was very much NOT on hiatus :0 My new employment has left me with no time to myself and when it does, I'm entirely too tired to write. I'm sorry. Now that I've somewhat gotten used to my rough schedule, I've found some energy to continue. While this chapter is short, I promise, I plan on adding another this very day, which will lead us nearer to the end of this tale! In any case, thank you for reviews and hopefully I can continue to peak your interest!**

"Gideon!" Reid nearly yelled as he pounded on Gideon's hotel room door. He was still in shock about what he had found out from Grace. He hit the door with the side of his fist once more, unbelieving that Gideon could stay asleep with such a racket. Luckily though, the whole team had been placed on one floor, which meant they were all apt to hear the noise he was making. He was right, and soon enough the lights in several of the rooms came on and several, tired and every annoyed FBI agents poked their heads out into the corridor.

"Reid, what the hell are you doing?" Morgan growled from his vantage point, while J.J. and Prentiss joined in seconds later. Finally Hotch came into the hall, ever the camp hall monitor, Gideon right behind him. Reid held up his hands in apology as his colleagues came down the warpath towards him.

"I can explain my behavior," he said, hoping to appease them before they all pummeled him to death.

"Damn straight you will, or we'll have to explain it for you." Morgan replied as he walked into the hall, unabashedly in nothing more then his boxer shorts. Even with the urgent information he had to share, Reid was still put off by Morgan's impeccable physique. When the man had time to go to the gym, Reid would never know, considering the closest thing to exercise _he_ got was running to get more coffee. It was hard to believe Reid had the girlfriend while Morgan continued to stay single, whether by choice or otherwise. Finally, Reid shook his head clear of his superfluous thoughts, Gideon needed to know what he had found out. He looked up just as the man he had been looking for came towards him.

"I—I tried your room, you weren't there." He started. Gideon on the other hand didn't particularly care where Reid had looked, as long as his disruption was worth it. He waved off Reid's questioning look and explained.

"Hotch and I were discussing the case, " Hotch continued, "What's so important you have to wake the entire hotel up?" At this demand, Reid took a breath and began to share what he had learned from his conversation with Grace to the team, as they all stood in the hall, in various states of sleeping attire. As they all began to come to the same conclusion Reid had, the case seemed to make more sense, the pieces of the puzzle that had originally come mismatched, started to slip together, finally a clear picture forming.

"So, the _aunt_ has been poisoning the women—but why?" Prentiss asked, as they delved into the information at hand. Reid's eyebrows pinched together as he thought it through, he snapped his fingers as he had an epiphany.

"Well, what greater insult is there, then to have the four boys you raised as your own, marry women who bring nothing but shame to your family?" he replied, while J.J.'s own eyebrow rose questioningly.

"That may be true, but who would go as far as to kill them? That seems to be a bit much." She asked, hoping to make sense of a very confusing case. In this day and age, not having personal problems was considered out of the norm, these women had average issues and attitudes. To be murdered for it seemed a little ridiculous. Reid had an answer for that as well.

"Eva is obviously a very traditional woman—her house was immaculate, during our talk with her, she seemed very uncomfortable talking about what her family had been involved in in—she—she served us _tea_." He said, hoping the others would find what he was saying, acceptable.

"Reid, lots of people offer tea when they have guests." Morgan replied yawning, his attention span was waning, considering it was in the wee hours of the morning. He was not entirely convinced an elderly lady like Eva was up to killing three women within forty-eight hours of one another. Reid looked at Morgan in horror. The man obviously hadn't been forced to drink as much as he had while they were interviewing the family.

"Morgan—she wouldn't stop refilling the cups." He said his voice disgusted. Morgan laughed and ruffled Reid's hair, much the nerd's annoyance. Gideon shook his head at Morgan and Reid's antics and then looked at Hotch.

"We need to get back to that house, regardless. As we were leaving earlier today, I noticed the sun was reflecting off of something in the backyard. Now that I think about it, it very well could have been the glass roof of a greenhouse. We'll have a connection if that turns out to be correct." He said, Hotch nodding in agreement as the older man spoke.

"I agree. Whatever is going on, we need to find out what it is and stop whoever is doing this." Morgan rubbed his face with his hands, attempting to wake himself up.

"All right then—what are we waiting for?" he said tiredly, looking like he was going to head straight for the cars waiting downstairs. Gideon looked at him from head to foot and then with one of his famous looks answered him.

"Well, for one—you're half naked." Morgan looked down, growing sheepish as he realized he had forgotten an essential element of walking into public.

A few minutes later they all met in the lobby, much to the surprise of the night concierge. They left in a hurry, heading for the elderly woman's house, the sun just barely creeping over the horizon, its rays stroking at the blue-black of the early morning sky, the bloody red it presenting an all too clear reminder they were dealing with murder.

One could only hope they figured it out in time.


	8. Family Roots

**Family Roots **

**A/N: OK, so it wasn't exactly the same day, but I haven't been writing for a while, I'm a little rusty in staying focused on the task at hand. In any case, almost done folks, hope you've enjoyed it.**

* * *

When the team reached Eva Bridger's home, they exited the cars quietly. They weren't looking to draw attention, especially when their lead suspect was in her late eighties. It wouldn't do to give her a heart attack before they had a chance to prove they were onto something. Hotch sent Morgan and Prentiss around the back to see if there was a greenhouse in the backyard, while the others made their way to the house. A quick radio from Morgan confirmed there was a greenhouse and a quick inspection had proven fruitful. From what they could tell, every species of flower used in the case was being grown within it. A moment later, they pounded on the door, only to find it unlocked. 

Despite the woman's age, the team entered the house with extreme caution, guns drawn as they searched for their suspect. Reid, who had been following Gideon at the time, stopped at the foot of the stairs as he heard something coming from the upstairs bedroom. He caught Gideon's attention and the two made their way, carefully, up the stairs. As they drew near, Reid realized what he was hearing was crying. They rounded the corner, heading for the sound. When they reached the door, Gideon gave a count and the two burst in, searching for a light to tame the darkness they were staring into blindly. When Reid finally, after a few moments of fumbling, found the switch, the two were more then surprised to find Constance Cantrell, slumped next the bed, her face soaked in tears, her hair a mess, hands gripping at the bed spread.

Resting atop the spread, hands folded across a sprig of flowers, was Eva Bridger.

Her face was set in peaceful, and apparently, eternal slumber. The elderly lady didn't appear to have been in any pain, just as the others had been. Beside her was a teacup, set prim and proper on its saucer. The two men approached Constance slowly, the woman's sobs cutting through the air. Reid knelt beside her as Gideon looked on, still on guard.

"Mrs. Cantrell?" Reid said softly, reaching a hand out to touch her. The woman didn't respond as he said her name softly, however, the instance his hand reached her shoulder, she leapt to her feet, her eyes flashing with anger.

"DON'T—TOUCH ME!" She cried, her sudden movement bringing Gideon's gun hand back into position. Reid raised his hands, showing her he wasn't a threat.

"Mrs. Cantrell, we're here to help, just let us help."

"No one can help—" the woman mumbled, her hands twisting in her shirt hem, "nono, she saw, and she ignored it all—what they did." Reid looked at Gideon for help, receiving an equally puzzled look. Her erratic behavior was a far cry from the quiet, withdrawn woman they had met with the previous afternoon. He faced the woman again, hoping to find out what was going on.

"Mrs. Cantrell, w-what do you mean, she ignored it? Who did what?" Constance looked up, her eyes reflecting nothing but someone hanging on the edge of the reason. Wiping angrily at her face, she leaned towards him, her lips quivering.

"Those women were evil." She said, nodding as though Reid had looked surprised at her statement. She continued, her mind not keeping up with what she was saying. "They brought nothing but ridicule to this family, with their problems, their addictions. They hurt us and _she_, she just let it go, said the _Lord_ would take care of them." She shook her head in disgust at what she saw as weakness. Before Reid or Gideon could do anything more, the door burst open and Constance's husband flew into the room. Immediately Gideon attempted to keep him back, but was nearly bowled over by the man. As soon as her husband saw the woman he had been raised by, laying, prone on the bed, he exploded, positively furious.

"Constance! What—what did you do?" Gideon put a hand against the man's chest, pushing him back.

"Mr. Cantrell, can you explain any of this?" The man looked away from the body of his surrogate mother to the man who was preventing him from attacking his own wife.

"She—" he breathed heavily as it came over him, what he knew. "She came home, right after you and your team had come to interview us all. She said that Eva hadn't done what she should have. That _she_ had to do it for her, and soon everyone would know. She wouldn't explain it to me. I just realized she was gone and came here." The man ran a hand through his hair, eyes wet.

"I can't believe she did this." As she heard this, the woman flew into a rage. She ran at her own husband, stopped short by Reid. As he attempted to hold the struggling woman Reid was sorely regretting Morgan's absence at this particular moment. As she thrashed against Reid, she screamed at her husband.

"I can't believe you didn't see what had to be done! They were destroying our family! I had to stop them!" she wouldn't stop struggling, her hands slapping at Reid's face. Gideon yelled into the radio, calling for the rest of the team, nearly pushing the fighting woman's husband straight into Morgan as he attempted to help Reid restrain the woman. As Morgan rushed in to help, Gideon looked to Reid.

"Think that was a confession?" He asked the young man. Reid, who was breathing quite hard after trying to keep a near psychotic woman from going on a rampage, nodded. It appeared they had found their murderer. As Morgan and Prentiss led the woman out of the room, her husband, now having a plethora of stoicism, following. Hotch stood back as they passed, entering the room only after the still hysterical Constance had been dragged out to the waiting police cars.

Gideon patted Reid's shoulder as he left the room. He gave a half smile and went to get the waiting police. The room they were standing in was now a crime scene.

"Good work Reid." He said, as he left Reid to ponder on his own. Alone for a moment, Reid turned to the body lying on the bed. The elderly woman looked absolutely peaceful, despite her having been murdered. Pulling out his phone, Reid leaned over and took a picture of the flowers she was holding. The sprig she held between her fingers had flowers that were dark pink on the inside, the petals pushing out to lighter pink. The petals were all the same length until they reached the bottom petal, which stuck out like a tongue.

He supposed one final call to Grace was needed.

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, the team was aboard the jet, heading towards home. It couldn't have come soon enough. Everyone was tired and in dire need of home and all things familiar. For Reid, all he wanted was to see Grace and Aydan. He hadn't realized that even the few days he had been gone would drive him as crazy as it had. 

Frankly, he didn't know how Hotch did it all the time. He was separated from his wife and son more often then seemed appropriate and yet somehow they did it. He and Grace on the other hand, hadn't even _thought_ that far in the future and already Reid felt the strain.

Whatever happened though, Reid was sure it would work out.

He was shaken out of his thoughts as Morgan started to discuss the case.

"So let me get this straight. Constance Cantrell is the good one, the best of the best of all the Cantrell women—she sees _all_ the other wives behaving badly and takes it upon herself to protect the family, by killing them all." He said, looking puzzled by the recent actions of a woman that never seemed to have a bad bone in her body. Prentiss set her coffee cup on the table ahead of her, leaning back in her seat.

"Don't forget, Eva taught Constance everything she knew about flowers." She said, J.J. joining in on the discussion.

"Eva was an expert on flowers and was aware of their meanings. She shared her knowledge of it with Constance." She said, by this time, Reid had slipped back into his daydream of seeing Grace again, not paying attention; he barely registered it when Morgan called his name. Looking up, he shook his head clear.

"What?" he asked, his embarrassment over being caught off-guard evident. Morgan laughed, fingers tapping on the table.

"Pay attention man, 'stead of mooning over your girl!" he said jokingly, despite his good humor, Reid felt melting into his seat would be the next best thing to throwing himself off the plane. Morgan shook his head as he saw the beginnings of a blush, creep across the young man's cheeks.

"Aw Reid," he said attempting to soothe the embarrassed genius, "I was just joking—speaking of your girl though, what'd she say about the last flowers, what were they, out of curiosity." He asked. Reid gave a slight cough and shift uncomfortably in his seat as all eyes fell on him.

"Um, Grace—said that the sprig in Eva Bridger's hand was an Apricot flower." He started. When he paused the others waited for him to continue.

"And?" J.J. pressed.

"It means distrust and doubt." Reid said quietly. As the others digested this, Gideon looked up from his folded hands.

"Constance Cantrell gave the final blow—Eva Bridger was the matriarch of her family, she didn't take the appropriate steps in Constance's eyes to correct the mistakes. Someone as proper as Constance couldn't stand seeing the chaos her sister-in-laws were bringing into her family." The team was quiet as the plane pushed through the sky, bringing them closer to home and further away from the bizarreness of criminal minds.

For Reid, home was sounding sweeter all the time.


	9. By Any Other Name

**By Any Other Name**

**A/N: This is the end folks! A totally corny ending, but at least it's finished and hopefully everyone will enjoy it :0) Thanks for reading!**

Grace lay on her bed, breathing softly, her phone next to her bed waiting to ring. She had been waiting for a call from Reid to let her know he was finally home and had fallen asleep in the process. She was so deep asleep she didn't wake up when her door opened and something was set down beside her. She finally did wake when she felt someone lay down beside her, when her eyes opened her gaze was met with the curves of a flower. Lifting herself up on one elbow she looked at it and realized it was a simple white orchid. She picked the flower up and smiled at it as she made the connection to its meaning.

"I did some research on my way home. I believe it means beautiful lady." Grace turned face the voice, her smile growing wider when she saw Reid, his smile matching hers. She lifted the flower to her nose and inhaled the scent it gave off; pleasantly surprised he had gotten one for her that did have a fragrance.

"Very good Dr. Reid. Though, flattery will get you nowhere" She said quite enjoying the laugh she earned in return. He couldn't help but smile at her, happy to be in her presence again. He reached a hand out to touch her, long fingers tracing the curves of her face.

"It was worth a try." He replied, aware she was joking. At the moment it didn't really matter to him, he just wanted to be there with her. It appeared he had become more attached then I had originally thought.

"Aydan will be happy to see you. " she said, "he's been talking about it all day." Reid looked at her, their eyes catching.

"What about you?" he asked quietly, his fingers moving to stroke her hair. Her gaze matched his, with no hesitation as she replied.

"I'm _more_ then happy to see you." She emphasized this by leaning forward and kissing him gently on the mouth. If he could have flown, Reid would have been sky high at that very moment.

"I'm glad. Very glad." He said, though he couldn't understand why he had been worried. He and Grace had been a couple before she had moved to Quantico, they had been farther apart _then_, then they were _now._ As though she could read his mind Grace gave a reassuring smile.

"Believe me, I've been having some trouble adjusting. Now that I should be able to see whenever I want, it's hard to remind myself that there may be days I can't." She took his hand and pressed her lips against it, her smile contagious.

"I've been having to cope with that too." He admitted, suddenly disliking his job a bit more then he'd like.

"Well, I was given some advice from those who have had to face this a lot longer then we have." She said, twining their fingers together. Reid looked at her questioningly, he was almost afraid to ask. He dared anyway.

"Oh?" he asked. Grace nodded.

"Haley Hotchner, even Penelope." She replied. Spencer was somewhat incredulous at the mention of the computer genius' name. Garcia was hardly the type to give advice, at least none of a romantic nature. That he knew of.

"I'm sorry, did you just say _Garcia_ gave you advice?" He asked, his shock evident from the tone of his voice. Grace smiled, when she had called Garcia for an update on the team's return the computer goddess had attacked the question with zeal, her own excitement at their return bubbling over into her conversation with Grace.

"Let's just say, the return of her beloved agent brought her the utmost joy, and leave it at that." She said, the unsurprising comment gathering a laugh from Reid. It was common knowledge that Garcia had _feelings_ for Morgan and when he was gone, she was one of those waiting for them to come back. They were quiet for a moment, just taking the time to be together again. Despite her quietness he saw she had that familiar look on her face.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly, amazed—still, at how easy it was for him to be around her. The shyness he had felt for so long around other people didn't seem to apply for her. It could be a surreal at times, just thinking about it.

"Earlier—when we talked on the phone, you said something…" She replied quietly. It didn't take Reid long to remember what he had said that she was talking about.

"Right."

"Did you mean it?"

Reid looked at her, his face set.

"Grace. I've never meant anything more in my life."

The smile that broke across Grace's face couldn't have been brighter and Reid's heart couldn't have been lighter. Whatever inhibitions he may have had before, they were gone. Now that he was here with her, he had no doubt that he loved her. It was impossible for him not to. She made things right, she made him happy, she understood him. It was as simple as that.

"Good, now come here." She said, wrapping her arms around him. Gently Reid touched her face, happy to be touching her again, after what had seemed an eternity of being unable to. Finally, after a moment of touch, he bent his head and kissed her. As they kissed, Grace reached behind her and shut the light on the bedside table, off. In the darkness, Reid's voice cut through the black.

"I don't recall hearing you say a certain something…" Without a moment lost, Grace replied.

"Spencer—Shut up and kiss me."


End file.
